Driving Forces
by Trinity Everett
Summary: "Not one of them ever looked at you the way Kate Beckett looks at you." - A different way 47 Seconds could have played out. Caskett, Rated M. For the CastlePornado.


**Driving Forces**

**A 47 Seconds AU fic**

**Rated M**

* * *

He'd told himself that he wouldn't say more, wouldn't unload on her any further, but as his mother watches him, he can't help himself.

"She knew. This whole time, she remembered. And she didn't say anything… because she was embarrassed because she doesn't feel the same way. I'm such a fool."

His mother looks back at him with soft eyes, the same look she gave him when she showed up at the loft after he called her to tell her that Meredith had left – had cheated and then left, no less. There's understanding in her eyes, sympathy, but not pity. She's had her fair share of heartache, too, she knows what he's going through, knows how his heart had stuttered and cracked wide open to hear Kate say she'd never forgotten the day she was shot, had never forgotten him pleading with her, confessing his love for her.

An instant later, his mother's expression changes, and she shakes her head.

"Richard, that is quite possibly the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard you say. And trust me, you've said more than a few doozies over the years."

He gawks, the cold wash of betrayal stopping him short. She's supposed to be on his side – she's his _mother_, for God's sake!

"Katherine Beckett is many things, Richard, but she is not someone who's embarrassed by your feelings for her," his mother continues, reaching into her purse. "Have you seen the way that woman looks at you? No, clearly you haven't, if you're saying something so ludicrous," she adds, almost to herself.

"Mother–"

"Just wait," she insists, studying her phone for a moment. "You obviously need to see proof, so I am looking for – ah, this. This."

His mother thrusts the phone under his nose, barely giving his eyes a chance to focus on it before she's going on,

"Darling, I've seen you with many women over the years – that Kyra Blaine, your ex-wives, your various dalliances, ill-advised or not – but not one of them ever looked at you the way Kate Beckett looks at you."

She takes his hand, placing her phone in his palm. "Tell me you don't see that, Richard. If you don't, I will be behind you, whatever you want to do – we can go home, break out the good stuff, and drown our sorrows for the rest of the night. But if you do, and if _you_ love her the way you say you do, you'll give that girl the chance to explain why she kept this from you."

He looks down, studying the photo his mother has found, taking in the soft lines of Beckett's smile, the sparkle in her eyes, the way she's focused almost entirely on _him_ while he's turned to someone else. She looks happy. She looks open.

She looks like a woman in love. With him.

Rick's brow furrows. He'd – had he gotten it wrong? Misunderstood what she'd meant?

His mother takes her phone from his hand, giving his fingers a sympathetic squeeze. "You're upset, I know that. All of this," she pauses to gesture to the memorials going up in front of them, "has you rattled. But, darling, giving up on Beckett isn't going to fix it."

"You're the one who said maybe she'll never be ready," he points out, shifting his weight.

"And if that's the case, that's the case. But don't you think you owe it to each other to know for sure?"

He hesitates. "Mother…"

"You're hurt, and you have a right to feel that way, but _talk_ to the woman, Richard," she insists, reaching up to pat his cheek. "Before it really is too late."

* * *

He lies awake later that night, contemplating the day – the last few days, really. They'd solved the case, caught the bomber (not Bobby, the kid Beckett had confessed her own sins to), but the damage remains. All those people, all the lives that start over tomorrow, fractured and warped, nothing like they once were.

Soft fingers drift across his chest, coming to a rest over the steady thud of his heart. A thumb sweeps along his skin, soothing and slow. Rick exhales, lowering his chin and meeting her gaze.

Beckett offers a smile that borders on shy, and his lips lift with the same tentative affection.

Despite his mother's advice to hear Kate out, he hadn't been kind to her when he first returned to the precinct, hadn't been charitable. He hadn't wanted to listen, but his partner hadn't been willing to let him go when he'd tried to duck out. She had curled her hand around his arm and led him far enough from the bullpen that they wouldn't be disturbed.

The discussion that followed hadn't been pretty. Their truths had come out, her sin of silence and – somehow – his as well, but instead of walking away like he'd expected her to, Kate had fought for him, for them, with a passion she usually reserved for victims and getting justice. She had been the driving force (both figurative and literal, since she'd gasped into his mouth that they needed to get out of the stairwell and to whoever's bed was closest, and then she'd been the first one to find her keys and get them out of there) in getting them where they are now.

Now, though, she seems to be at as much of a loss for what to say as he is, because after opening and closing her mouth a couple of times, she licks her lips and shakes her head, pressing closer and touching her mouth to his.

"We're okay, right?" she breathes.

He nods, searching for any lingering anger and finding only contentment in his heart.

"Then less thinking, Castle," she murmurs against his lips, fitting her body to his. "Less thinking, more sleeping."

Rick cups her jaw with a steady hand, painting a kiss on her mouth that leaves her breathless and wild-eyed.

"I like thinking about you," he says, releasing her face and palming her hip. Kate releases a quiet laugh and nods.

"I do, too. About you, I mean," she adds, grinning at his chuckle. "Not me."

"That's okay, I'll think about you enough for the both of us. But you know, we do have the day off tomorrow," he murmurs as his fingers trail along her skin. His partner squirms against him, stoking the embers of desire in his belly.

Beckett hums. "That we do."

"So, we don't _have_ to sleep if we don't want to," he continues, teasing his lips over hers again. Kate cups his cheek, keeping him close as her hips bump his.

"I could be persuaded for round three," she says, swiping her thumb over his jaw.

"Yeah?" he asks.

Kate offers a smile that's both playful and warm with desire, and it leaves him searching for breath. He's seen glimpses of this side of her before, but to have it directed at him is… almost too much.

How wrong he'd almost been.

"Yeah, Castle." Her lips connect with his jaw, nipping at his stubble. "I want to have more sex with you."

Stretching up, she swallows his surprised laughter with the firm press of her mouth, the slick of her tongue over his lip.

"Well, in that case," he says, using her distraction to flip her onto her back and settle between her thighs. "I think I can handle that."

She grins against his mouth, sliding strong fingers into his hair. Her body rolls beneath him, warm and tantalizing, and it's all he can do not to drive into her with abandon. But no, no they've done frantic and frenzied. Now he wants to take his time, explore her, really learn what makes her lose her mind.

Kate sighs when he breaks the kiss, chasing his lips as he moves down the column of her throat. She catches his ear instead, skims her lips up to his temple in a gesture that's more tender than sexy, and he smiles against her collarbone, smudging a kiss there before dipping lower. He takes a moment to acknowledge the irregular bump of the bullet scar between her breasts, silently thanking the universe for not taking her when things had been dire, before he brushes his nose over her skin and wraps his lips around her nipple.

His partner arches against him, his name falling from her lips on a breathy sigh.

Rick gives her flesh a tug, swiping his tongue in slow circles, listening for her reaction before repeating the action. Her eyes pop open when he breaks contact, her hips making restless arcs against his, only to settle again as he switches sides and gives her other breast the same treatment.

Kate grapples for his hand, pulling it away from her side and pressing his palm to the damp peak of her breast. He takes the hint, plucking her nipple between his fingers, kneading her skin.

She whines at the loss of contact as he pulls away, but her displeasure is short-lived as he trails damp kisses down her belly and presses his mouth to the jut of her hipbone.

"Castle," she breathes, lowering her hand to his head. Her hips lift with an urgency he can't help but tease her about as his hands skim her flanks.

"Eager, Beckett?"

"Ass." There's no bite to it, though, not as she tugs on his hair trying to guide him where she wants him.

He takes his time anyway, trailing his lips over the inside of her thigh, grazing his teeth as she starts to squirm. His fingers mimic the motion on her other thigh, drawing his initials on her skin at the crease of her leg before moving to slip through her folds.

Kate's hips jump into his hand. Her head falls back against the pillow, a quiet hiss of pleasure spilling from her lips. That hiss only gets louder as he opens her to him and tastes her for the first time. Her fingers clench in his hair, tugging harder with each delicate lap he makes, practically yanking it out when he pays special attention to the hooded nub of her clit.

Rick thumbs her hip, lifting his eyes to watch her face as he drops his hand and teases a finger, then two, at her entrance. She moans something that resembles his name, which is confirmation enough, and he pumps his fingers slowly, matching the rhythm of his tongue.

Her breath grows shorter, soft pants that carry soft curses and nonsensical words, and he buries his fingers inside her, moving his tongue faster over her clit to carry her over the edge.

She's still gripping his hair when he pulls his fingers from her body and kisses his way back up, and she uses that hold on him to drag him into a kiss that leaves him throbbing with need against her belly. Beckett must feel it too, because she grins, easing a hand between them to take him in hand and give him a slow stroke.

"Don't tease," he growls into her mouth, pushing his hips into her hand.

"Uh huh," she hums, wiggling a little to get the angle right, running the tip of his cock through her soaked folds and lining him up. "_Now_ you don't want to tease."

Planting his hands beside her head, he rocks, joining their bodies one sure thrust. Kate's fingers flutter between them, brushing his belly before wrapping around his back and holding him to her, hanging on as he pulls half out and eases back in, snapping his hips without pausing the next time.

"Not teasing is good," she concedes, nodding against his cheek. Her body rolls, following his lead, embracing his pace. "So good. So, so good."

He tries to draw it out, even switches things up at first, but soon enough a familiar tingle starts in his belly. He abandons being coy then, rocking with her, faster, sharper, harder. He's grateful he manages to have the presence of mind to slide a hand between them and stroke his fingers down her stomach, stroking her to bring her with him when the tingle engulfs him, sending him tumbling into the oblivion of release.

Kate's arms keep him locked to her, even after their breathing returns to normal. Not that he's especially keen to move; no, buried deep inside Kate Beckett with his arms around her and hers around him is pretty much the perfect place to stay forever. If the thunder of her heart is anything to go by, she agrees.

Turning his head, he tries to draw her into a kiss, though he manages to catch only half her lip. Kate laughs against his mouth, stroking her thumb over his cheek, unbothered by the less-than-ideal angle.

"I'm buying your mother a case of wine tomorrow," she says a few minutes later, getting comfortable under the covers with him, resting her ear on his chest the way she had earlier. Content, his eyes slip shut. "For trying to talk some sense into you. Maybe I'll get her two."

Rick nods, peeking an eye open at her addendum. "Why two?"

His partner presses her smile into his chest. stroking a fingertip down his sternum. "Why not two?"

"Mmm, fair. But you know, she didn't _really_ succeed in doing that. It was all you. You changed my mind, Kate."

She exhales, wrapping an arm around him. He hums at the warmth of her leg slipping over his. "In that case, I'll buy one for her and one for myself. And maybe, if you're good, I'll share with you."

* * *

_So I started writing this after seeing a gifset from 47 Seconds on tumblr, and it snowballed into a Pornado fic - which I finished just a couple of hours too late to get posted in time for last Pornado. Luckily, I held onto it long enough to make it count for this one! I hope you liked it!_


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